Vol. 512 No. 6
360 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he has satisfied himself that dispersed locations receiving asylum seekers can provide adequate support services including interpreters and language services. [27002/99]
I have referred to the establishment of the central directorate for the dispersal of asylum seekers and direct provision on a number of occasions recently in this House.
In response to the situation where the Eastern Health Boare could not source adequate accommodation for asylum seekers in the Dublin area, the Government decided that there was no option but to arrange for dispersal to locations throughout the country and that a central directorate should be established to arrange for such dispersal.
While the immediate task of the directorate is to ensure that the housing needs of asylum seekers are met as I and the Government are conscious that the essential requirement of shelter must be the first priority, the directorate is currently consulting with Departments, State agencies and non-governmental organisations with a view to devising a planned and orderly system of dispersal which will of course be sensitive to the needs of not alone the family unit but to the cultures and ethnic background of the applicants. It will be a primary function of the directorate to ensure that the facilities available to those in the greater Dublin area will be also available to those dispersed and proper structures and procedures will be put in place to allow for its smooth operation. Dispersal will not in any way disadvantaged those who are located in areas outside of Dublin. Such locations will be chosen where the support services for the asylum seeker are in place or can be put in place without delay.
361 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason for his decision to consider switching to voucher payments for asylum seekers in view of the fact that this was discontinued for welfare recipients on grounds of being degrading and discriminating. [27003/99]
The policy context of the decision of the Government to plan for a system of providing directly for the needs of asylum seekers is the range of measures taken in other EU countries to control illegal immigration and to manage the processing of cases of those who seek asylum and refugee status and in particular the decision of the UK to move to a system of direct provision by April 2000. Given that we maintain a common travel area with the UK which is of enormous value and relevance to the Island of Ireland and Irish people generally, a decision of this character by the UK has to be taken into con sideration very seriously by any Irish Government.
The introduction of direct provision in this State will simply bring us in line with other member states. It is widely accepted that a harmonised approach to asylum matters is by far the best approach and in introducing this system I am satisfied that it will represent a fair and effective means of meeting the basic needs of our asylum population. There is a widespread assumption that direct provision automatically represents a lesser standard of service to asylum seekers, but I can assure the House that the introduction of this system will follow careful planning and investigation.
The Government decided on 9 November to establish a central directorate to arrange for the dispersal of asylum seekers to locations throughout the country and to plan for a system of direct provision for their basic needs. A system of vouchers is only one option to be considered by the directorate which will be consulting widely with relevant Department agencies and non-governmental organisations before making recommendations on the most appropriate system of providing directly for asylum seeker needs.
A system of direct provision will for the most part represent a cashless system with the State assuming responsibility for funding suitable accommodation, for providing health and education services and other essential needs. Genuine asylum seekers who are actually fleeing persecution, will I am satisfied, welcome this service and are unlikely to view it as a diminution in the quality of the services provided by the State, given that one of its purposes is to prevent fraud for which the innocent as well as the guilty seem to stand indicted by those who are hostile to immigrants generally. Unscrupulous persons who use the umbrella of asylum to defraud the State naturally prefer a cash based system. The system will not alone provide for the basic needs of asylum seekers in a fair and effective manner but will send out a message to those engaged in fraudulent activity that the States responsibility is to the genuine asylum seeker and not to those who circumvent immigration controls simply to cash in on what may be viewed as a generous welfare system.
362 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the resources available in his Department's offices at Mount Street, Dublin 2, to deal with asylum seekers; and the way in which this compares with the staff workload in terms of applicants in other similar offices dealing with Irish applicants. [27005/99]
When I became Minister for Justice on 26 June 1997, I found that the immigration-asylum service, given the problems facing it, was totally under resourced. Twenty two staff were working on thousands of applications which had built up over the previous years. They were doing their level best but in truth they could not cope with the administrative burden placed on them. The Government of which I am a member immediately decided on taking up office that this issue needed urgent attention. We immediately set about taking that action.
Following the Government decision of July 1997 and the resolution of the industrial relations problems on the use of retired public servants, the Department of Finance gave sanction for 72 posts on 27 February 1998 to put together an asylum task force. The staff were sourced, comprehensive training in conjunction with the UNHCR was provided, systems were put in place and operations commenced on 5 May 1998.
On recommendation of the reconvened interdepartmental Committee of Asylum, Immigration and Related matters and to maintain the momentum in the processing, the Government decided on 20 July 1998 to approve a further 72 posts to concentrate on processing the cases throughout the appeal stage and to provide for the needs that exist in immigration and citizenship division and aliens registration office as a consequence of the administrative burden casued by the influx of asylum seekers.
The number of staff now involved in all the arrangements for processing of applications in respect of asylum claims is 120 of which 25 part time employees represent 15 posts.
In addition, on 3 November 1999 the Government decided, inter alia, on an increase in staff for the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform which would be sufficient to discharge the Department's role in relation to planning for and implementation of direct provision and to expand the asylum operations and policy and the immigration and citizenship areas of the Department. On foot of this decision the Department of Finance approved 120 additional posts on 25 November.
I cannot compare the resources allocated to the refugee applications centre in Mount Street with the staff workloan in terms of applicants in other similar offices dealing with Irish applicants as by definition no Irish persons were eligible to apply for refugee status.
